Beef Short Ribs Charcoal Barbecued with Homemade BBQ Sauce

Just in time for the Labour Day long weekend we are going to take a look at how to BBQ perfectly tender, seasoned beef short ribs basted and cooked in a homemade BBQ sauce.

This dish is cooked on a charcoal grill and has to be done over indirect heat.


We looked at using the indirect method with charcoal before. It simply means that you bunch your charcoal towards the sides of your barbecue leaving a fairly large space in the middle without any hot charcoal.


This dish also requires buying some aluminium foil BBQ trays. It is preferable if you can get the ones with small slits on the bottom, but not essential.

The "indirect method" with charcoal at the sides

Here we are going to be making 6-8 bone-in beef short ribs uncut.

The first step is to take out your ribs and season them liberally on both sides with sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder and mustard powder.

Let them sit at room temperature for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, slice up two large Spanish onions and two celery stalks and line the bottom of your foil pans with them

Take your seasoned ribs and, in batches, sear them over the hot charcoal at the sides of the grill for about one minute a side.

Place your seared and seasoned ribs on top of the bed of onions and celery and put the trays over the center of the grill with no charcoal underneath.

The total cooking time for this dish is 2 to 2 1/2 hours. This first part of the grilling takes 30 minutes. You want to maintain a consistent heat but not allow this to get too high, meaning you want to be cooking 10-15 minutes top on your barbecue and then 5 minutes top off to let the coals flare back up.

During this first grilling period you can make your homemade BBQ sauce. To do this mix the following ingredients throughly in a bowl:

BBQ Sauce Ingredients:
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup chili sauce
1/2 cup prepared mustard
1/4 cup vinegar
1/4 cup Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1-2 teaspoons Tabasco Sauce

This is a terrific BBQ sauce for any number of dishes and works very well here.

You should put some aside in a separate bowl for dipping later if you want extra sauce so as to prevent cross-contamination.

After the first half hour of cooking, spoon some sauce over the top of each of the ribs so that they are covered with it. Flip each of the ribs and cover the other side with sauce as well. This is the only time you will flip the ribs.

BBQ the ribs for another 90 minutes to 2 hours until they are tender and the meat can be easily pulled from the bone. Remember to continue to alternate 10-15 minutes top on, 5 minutes top off throughout the entire cooking process.

Be sure to sit out, listen to some radio, chat with friends or loved ones and have some drinks while doing this!

The onions and celery will be very browned and even caramelized in parts, but are really tasty. While you can cut the ribs up into riblets I like to serve them uncut and to pull them apart and eat them by hand.

They are a perfect weekend or holiday dish that go nicely with rice and salads, garlic bread and red wine or beer!

Enjoy.

See also: Standing Prime Rib Roast done two ways: On the BBQ or in the oven with mushroom gravy

See also: Beer Can Chicken with "French Fried" Asparagus on the BBQ!

BBQed Spice Rub Pork Ribs

Today we are going to take a look at a way to make delicious, smokey pork ribs on a standard charcoal BBQ that is actually, with a little practice, very easy.

This technique works with either baby back ribs or side ribs, although side ribs need to be cooked longer.



We are also making them with a spice rub as opposed to a sauce, though they can, of course, be served with any BBQ sauce you like.

To begin we have to prepare the ribs for the BBQ and you want to do this at least 4 hours before you cook.

First, take your racks of ribs and remove the thin membrane from the back of them. This is generally very easy to do, and while some dispute whether you should or need to do this, for ribs being done with a spice rub I think it is a must. (If buying your ribs from a butcher you can ask them to remove it for you.)

Then cut your racks in half to make them more manageable.

There are countless spice rub variations out there that you can use, or you can buy some store bought ones, but the one I used had the following ingredients:

1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup paprika
1/8 cup garlic powder
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons cumin
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon mustard powder
1 or 2 tablespoons cayenne pepper (depending on how spicy you want them)
2 tablespoons Montreal style chicken spice

Blend all these together thoroughly and then spoon onto and rub into the ribs so that it covers them entirely. This is a slightly spicy blend full of flavour.

The amounts given above should work for 2-3 racks of ribs.

Place the seasoned ribs in a container, covered, in the fridge for at least 4 hours. If you can leave them for as long as 12 hours, all the better!

When you are almost ready to get started prepare your charcoal BBQ to cook using the indirect method. As we have covered in a previous post, this means separating your coals or briquettes into two piles, one on each side of your BBQ, with no coals in the middle.

When your coals are ready, put your seasoned ribs in the middle of the grill where there are no coals.

Open a cold beer, turn on some music, and enjoy the summer while your ribs cook! You want to cook baby backs around 1 1/2 hours and side ribs 2 to 2 1/2 hours, turning the ribs once. There is absolutely no need to turn them more than once, so don't!

You want to regulate the smoke and heat by opening and closing (with the flue still open) the lid periodically. I find 5 minutes open followed by 10-15 minutes closed (repeating continuously until done) is the formula that works best.

While it should not be necessary with such a relatively short cook time, if you need to you can add charcoal to the sides as required.

These ribs will be smokey, tender and an absolutely perfect patio or backyard summer dish.

Let sit around 5 minutes and slice into individual riblets. Serve with BBQ sauce on the side if you wish. These go best, in my opinion, with classic ketchup style sauces, but it is, of course, up to you! They are also terrific on their own (which is actually how I prefer them).

Needless to say, they go great with beer!

Enjoy.

See also: Standing Prime Rib Roast done two ways: On the BBQ or in the oven with mushroom gravy

See also: Beer Can Chicken with "French Fried" Asparagus on the BBQ!